


I'm the light blinking at the end of the road; blink back to let me know

by Colourspaz



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Banter, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Inspired by Firewatch (Video Game), M/M, Meet-Cute, not the video game but firewatching in general, sorta?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 02:42:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21402853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colourspaz/pseuds/Colourspaz
Summary: John works as a firewatch and Evan’s hopelessly lost in the woods and it’s getting dark and Hey, dude, do you want to come in?Title from Always by Panic! At The Disco
Relationships: Evan Fong/John | KryozGaming
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40





	I'm the light blinking at the end of the road; blink back to let me know

The best part about firewatching, John decides, is the sunrises and sunsets. Every morning and every evening, he watches the sun touch the mountains and paint the sky rich hues of pink, orange, red, yellow, and purple. 

The worst part about firewatching is how lonely it gets. He’s up there for the entire summer, on top of a mountain all by himself. The only times he’ll even speak is when he checks in on the radio. 

And sure, it’s calming to be by himself, no assholes to set him off or world crisis to worry about, but to be alone with your thoughts for that long...it’s not the greatest. 

~ 

The sunrise that morning gave no indication that the day would be any different from the others. John woke up with the sun, made a cup of coffee, and drank it on the porch, watching the colours spread into the sky. 

He checks in on the radio at 10 am, and Smitty tells him about a large group of tourists that checked in that morning and are camping in the woods near his cabin. 

“You checked them for fireworks and all that, right?” John asks, his voice scratchy from disuse. 

“Yep. One of them had sparklers, but I took ‘em.” Smitty replies. “They said they were spending three nights including tonight.”

“Alright. Thanks, Smit.” John says before clicking off the radio. 

The day goes as usual, meals, a walk in the woods, keeping watch. As is expected. Near evening, he hears some laughing and shouting on the nearby trail and figures that it’s the campers that Smitty mentioned. 

The voices fade pretty quickly, with one last “Evan! Hurry up!” before they’re gone. John assumes that ‘Evan’ is a younger sibling or something of the like; someone in elementary school. 

He checks out over the radio at 6. Smitty tells him to make sure that the group’s campfire is out by 10 pm, and that it’s going to be kind of chilly outside. John says he will, and thanks, and then clicks off of the radio. 

He sees a falling star that night, out on the porch. He doesn't know what to wish for, so he simply says _"Give me something good."_

And something good he gets. 

~

Around 10:30, someone knocks on his door. It startles him and makes him knock over his cider. He rushes to the door and hopes that he at least doesn't look like a feral woodsman. 

Standing on his porch and looking like a lost puppy is the prettiest man that John has ever seen. He looks startled when John opens the door, and John winces internally, knowing that his hair is _definitely_ a rat's nest right now. 

"Can I, uh, help you?" John asks. 

"Yeah, I'm camping with some friends of mine in the forest and I, uh...kind of got lost." The man looks ashamed, and John can see red dusting his cheeks. 

"Oh, I think I know which group that is. I heard you guys on one of the trails earlier. You're the only group camping out here at the moment. I'm John, by the way. I'm the fire lookout." John says, cutting himself off before he starts rambling. 

The man huffs a short laugh, and John's heart sings. 

"I'm Evan." 

"Cool. Alright, we have two options here. One: We stumble around in the dark and try to find your campsite or two: we radio your friends - you guys brought a radio, right?" 

Evan nods. 

"Cool, option two is that we radio your friends to tell them you're okay, you spend the night here, and you walk back in the morning." 

Evan mulls the options over for a moment, chewing at his bottom lip. "Option two, I suppose. It won't be an issue? I won't be, like, disrupting your work or anything, right?" 

John shakes his head. "Not a problem at all." 

Evan grins. 

"Sweet."

John steps to the side for Evan to walk in, then shuts the door behind him. Evan slings his pack off of his back, which John hadn't noticed. 

"Just put that on the floor somewhere, it's not a problem." 

Evan drops it on the floor slowly, turning and slowly looking around the tiny cabin. 

“This is where you have to live?” Evan asks, his tone more curious than rude. 

“Yep. All summer.” John replies. 

Evan whistles lowly. 

“Don’t you get lonely?”

“Sometimes. Last year, I went the entire summer without seeing another human being.” 

“Wow. I don’t think I could ever do this. Uh, no offense.” Evan says, adding the second sentence hastily. 

John laughs. “None taken, I get it.” 

A silence stretches throughout the room. 

“So, we should, uh, radio your friends?” 

"Oh! Uh, yeah, yeah." 

John clicks the radio on, tunes to the frequency, and turns on the mouthpiece. 

"Hey, uh, guys?" Evan speaks hesitantly into the radio. Almost immediately, a chorus of "EVAN!" and "WHERE THE FUCK-" and even a "YOU BITCH!!" rings out from the speaker. Evan lets out a laugh and waits for the voices to quiet down before he speaks again. 

"Guys, chill! I'm alright. I got lost on the way back from-" Evan begins, but is cut off by someone with a strong Irish accent yelling through the radio. 

"Evan, how th'fuck did ya get lost? You were wit Tyler and Brian! Did they fockin leave ya behind?" 

A chorus of laughter follows, and John can't help but stare at Evan's dimples, feeling his face get red. 

"They might as well have, I went one way - asking which way it was! - and they walked away without me!" Evan replies, his tone indignant. 

A new voice pops up. "We thought you were behind us, dumbass!" 

"WELL I CLEARLY WASN'T!" Evan says, laughing. John watches this scene play out, and in the back of his mind, part of him wishes he had a group of friends to joke with so easily. 

“Anyways, you know how the dude at the front desk told us about the fire watcher dude?” Evan says. 

A chorus of agreements comes from the radio, and Evan continues. 

“Yeah, I accidentally found his cabin and I’m staying here for now.” Evan says, sounding a little bashful. 

“How do we know he’s not an axe murderer?” One of Evan’s friends asks. 

“Because this cabin is fucking tiny - no offense - and if there was an axe here I’d be able to see it.”

“Is he there with you now?” One of the voices from earlier returns. 

“Yeah,” Evan says, passing the mouthpiece to John. 

“Hey. I’m John. I promise I’m not an axe murderer,” He says into the receiver. A chorus of laughter sounds from the radio, and John grins. “I’ll bring Evan back in the morning, promise.” 

“Do you have to?” says a voice from the radio, the same one that asked about John being an axe murderer. 

“Oh, fuck off, Marcel.” Evan replies. John tries to stifle his laughter. 

"Alright, we'll see you in the morning, I guess." says someone who John thinks is Marcel. 

"Night." Evan replies, and then clicks off the radio. He turns to John, and a silence fills the room. 

"Did you, uh, did you already eat dinner?" John asks. "I don't have much to offer up here but…" 

Evan nods. "We - me and my friends - we ate earlier." 

John nods. "Cool. I'm going to get my sleeping bag out and head to sleep, then." 

"Why do you need your sleeping bag?" Evan asks, confused. 

"...Because you're taking the bed?" 

"I can sleep on the floor, it's fine." Evan insists. 

"Nope, you're taking the bed and that's final." John says firmly. Evan opens his mouth to make a retort, but John raises an eyebrow and he clamps it shut. 

"You drive a hard bargain." Evan says, grinning. 

John can't help but grin as well as he turns to dig his sleeping bag out of the closet. 

~ 

"So, let me get this straight - you found brownies in the room that you knew nothing about, ate them, and _they might have been laced with weed?_" Evan asks, incredulous. 

John nods, laughing too hard to formulate words. He's not quite sure how they got on this topic, all he knows is that it's nearly two a.m. and they've been talking for four hours. His eyes are burning and he knows he should be sleeping, but he just can't get enough of Evan's voice. 

"Yep, we never found out -" he pauses to yawn, "- anything about them. Ever. Fuck, what time is it?" 

Evan checks his wristwatch. "About two." 

John curses. "As much as I hate to say it, we should head to bed. I get up with the sunrise," he explains. 

Evan nods, and lays down on his side, facing John and pulling the covers up to his chin. John's heart flutters at the sight of Evan all drowsy and comfortable, and he holds back a grin. 

"Night, John."

"Night, Evan." 

Slow, even breath soon fills the cabin, and John maps the silhouette of Evan's body until he falls asleep. 

~ 

In the morning, John wakes up to the sun streaming through the windows and Evan groaning. He huffs a quiet laugh before he sits up. Evan turns to him and his hair is messy and he's pouting and John can't help the blush creeping up his neck. 

"Good morning, sunshine," John jokes. Evan just grumbles something under his breath, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. 

"Did you sleep well?" John asks, climbing out of his sleeping bag and standing up. 

Evan nods slowly, combing his hair with his fingers. "Your sheets smell nice," he says, offhandedly. 

John pretends like he doesn't have butterflies in his stomach.

"Alright, shall we go find your friends?" John offers. 

"Sounds good to me."

They lace up their shoes and grab their bags, and Evan points vague directions to John and after 15 minutes, they're approaching a campsite that Evan says is definitely theirs. 

"Scott insisted on the bright pink tent," he explains. John stifles a laugh. 

"RISE AND SHINE, MOTHERFUCKERS!! I'M FUCKIN' BACK!" Evan yells at the top of his lungs, and John can't hold in his laughter any longer. Movement and various unpleased voices come from the three tents, and the first person to appear is a tall man with long, shaggy brown hair and a glare that could cut through steel. 

"Evan, you're a fuckin' bitch," the man deadpans. Evan just grins and leans in towards the man. 

"Aw, Tyler, didn't you miss me?" 

"Not at all, you fuckin' scrub." 

Evan just grins. More people come clambering out of the tents, all groaning about being woken up and Evan being a little shit. 

Evan turns ever so slightly and catches John's eye. John offers a small smile and a wave before turning around and walking back through the trees to his cabin. 

Evan turns to Tyler to make a quip, and when he turns back, John's gone. 

~

The walk back to the cabin feels strangely quiet. It's the same path that John has been taking all year, yet it feels...empty. He shrugs the feeling off and opens the door to his cabin, going to place his bag on the table when he notices a scrap of paper that wasn't there before. 

_xxx-xxx-xxxx_

_i know you probably cant contact me til fall or w/e but here_  
_i really like talking with you and itd be nice to stay in contact i guess_  
_-evan f_

John grins and tucks the note into his book, a giddy feeling in his stomach. 

For once, he can't wait for the summer to be over. 

**Epilouge:**

John climbs out of Smitty's car with a promise of "Yeah, I'll see you next summer!" before the Canadian drives off. John climbs the stairs to his apartment, and breathes in the musty air, putting his bags down and opening a window. 

He retrieves his phone from his safe and powers it on, opening the contacts and pulling out the wrinkled note with a note and number written in a blocky scrawl. Smiling, he types the number in and saves the contact with the name _cute Evan_.

~

Down the coast, Evan's practicing his guitar when he gets a text from an unknown number. 

_unknown: hey its john_

_unknown: from the foreat_

_unknown: *forest_

Evan can’t help his smile as he goes to type a reply.

**Author's Note:**

> Please,,,comm,,ment,,,ku,,,dos,,,,if you,,,,liked,,,,,,I THRIVE off of validation,,,
> 
> Also fun fact the ‘theoretical weed brownies’ thing actually happened to me ;D


End file.
